Excellent

Revolutionary Road Director Sam Mendes has made a hands-down great film, based on Richard Yates' 1961 novel, about a young married couple discovering that their hopes and ambitions - and their marriage - are falling apart in the cultural wasteland of 1955 suburbia. Leonardo DiCaprio is ideally cast as the charming, somewhat lightweight husband, and Kate Winslet has her screen apotheosis as a talented, passionate woman trapped in the net of conformity. A masterpiece. Rated R. 120 minutes. - M. LaSalle

Very good

Cherry Blossoms A German man on the verge of retirement wants everything to stay the same - what he eats for lunch, his quiet routines with his wife, his geographical distance from their grown children - but everything changes with his spouse's sudden death in this poetic dissection of family dynamics and what it means to feel alive and engaged. Doris Dörrie's latest drama is set partly in Japan, where Mount Fuji, cherry blossoms and butoh dance become important symbols of change and stability. In German and Japanese with English subtitles. Not rated. 124 minutes. - J. Curiel

He's Just Not That Into You This romantic comedy, loosely based on the self-help book of the same name, never soars but never flags, either, despite a hefty running time. The cast is strong and the relationships ring true. It's a brisk, likable, pleasant picture. Rated PG-13. 129 minutes. - M. LaSalle

The International This is not a thriller for the record books, but it may be one for our time: The villain is a corrupt, evil bank that uses debt to control nations, sell weapons and direct wars. Clive Owen is the obsessed agent who wants to bring it down, and Naomi Watts is another agent, less obsessed, on the same mission. Rated R. 110 minutes. - M. LaSalle

JCVD You might not be thinking of watching the latest Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle but, really, consider it: This is not an action film but a very smart and grimly funny movie about the price of fame and being a celebrity, featuring a performance by Van Damme - as himself - that demonstrates a level of ability and humanity that no one knew he had in him. Rated R. 100 minutes. - M. LaSalle

Taken Liam Neeson stars in this likable and extremely well-made (if obvious) action thriller about a former CIA agent whose daughter is abducted in Paris. This makes him angry. Very angry. Rated PG-13. 94 minutes. - M. LaSalle

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers A sharply nuanced film by iconoclastic director and former San Franciscan Wayne Wang ("Smoke") about a woman in her 30s, Yilan (Faye Yu), whose Chinese father, Mr. Shi (Henry O), comes for an extended visit to her home in suburban America. Not rated. 83 minutes. - R. Harmanci

Wendy and Lucy Michelle Williams stars in this European-style drama about a financially strapped young woman whose car breaks down in Oregon, midway on her job-seeking trip to Alaska. This is an effective, recession-ready rumination on the soul-killing, isolating nature of poverty. Rated R. 75 minutes. - M. LaSalle

Good

Defiance The film dramatizes the true exploits of three Jewish Polish brothers who hid from the Nazis in the Belarussian forest and led a community of Jews in the woods. Alas, despite the sincere efforts of actors Liev Schreiber and Daniel Craig and director and co-writer Edward Zwick, the story makes for listless drama. Rated R. 137 minutes. - M. LaSalle

Gran Torino Clint Eastwood knows better than anyone his meaning as an actor and his effect on audiences, so it's hard to believe he could direct this movie without knowing how funny it is. He plays a racist old crank who comes to the aid of his Asian immigrant neighbors and just happens to have an arsenal in his house. The movie is obvious but entertaining, and the kick is watching Eastwood, who plays this like "Grumpy Old Men" meets "Dirty Harry." Rated R. 100 minutes. - M. LaSalle

Below average

Crossing Over Writer-director Wayne Kramer's overwrought, tin-eared drama about illegal aliens in the United States looks like a blind stab in the direction of social significance along the order of "Babel," a grim story of various immigrants, legal and illegal, in the United States. The tone is sanctimonious, and most of the characters are unsympathetic. Rated R. 113 minutes. - M. LaSalle

Friday the 13th The reboot of the "Friday the 13th" series is a pretty big mess - not particularly scary, or interesting or even gory by 21st century movie standards. Jason is back, but there are no camp counselors - just some boring rich kids with no self-preservation skills. If it weren't for a topless waterskiing sequence, there would be nothing in this movie to remember two hours after the last killing is over. Rated R. 97 minutes. - P. Hartlaub

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